George was convicted in September 2012 of shooting and killing his nephew, Russell Kent George, during a drunken fight. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

In August an Alabama appeals court overturned the conviction. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals today repeated its finding that the trial court gave outdated instructions to the jury concerning Alabama's law on self-defense.

The appeals court noted that the law changed in 2006, effectively eliminating the law's earlier requirement of a "duty to retreat."

Following the reversal of George's conviction last year Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones said it was not a self-defense case.

Prosecutors had argued that some of the proposed self-defense instructions argued for by the defense would have confused the jury, but the appeals court disagreed.

Alabama law allows that a person is justified in using physical force to defend himself or a third party from unlawful physical force. The law goes on to say if that justification is met, a person "who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and is in any place where he or she has the right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground."

The appeals court noted that the "right to be" requirement is not related to ownership of the property, whether a home, or in this case, a lot where the shooting occurred.

In its earlier ruling, the court cited trial testimony in describing the events that led to Russell Kent George's death.

The court said Keith George attempted to keep Russell George from driving drunk and Russell responded with belligerence, hitting Keith on the side of the head, stunning him.

Keith then grabbed a stick from his truck and threw it down between them, "thinking that the threatened use of the stick would rein in Russell's aggression."

Russell picked up the stick instead and began hitting Keith with it, the court said.

Keith said he made his way to his truck and grabbed a pistol from inside. He moved away from Russell, who followed swinging the stick and landing blows, the court said.

"Due to Russell's continued aggression, Keith fired an initial shot," the court said. "Although the evidence indicated that Russell was shot three times, Keith testified that he remembered firing only one shot."

A friend of Keith's testified that Russell followed Keith, swinging the stick. He testified Keith was lying down when he fired a final shot, causing Russell to fall. The friend administered CPR until paramedics arrived.